Janicza Bravo

Janicza Bravo is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Her films include Gregory Go Boom, a winner of the short-film jury award at the Sundance Film Festival; Lemon, co-written with Brett Gelman; and Zola, co-written with playwright Jeremy O. Harris.

Early life and education Bravo was born in New York City, the daughter of Ana María Ford and Rafael Ángel Landers. Her parents, who are tailors, are both from Colón, Panama. When she was 12, her family moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Her second film, the 2013 dark comedy named Gregory Go Boom, won the short-film jury award at the Sundance Film Festival The film's title was inspired by the 1976 François Truffaut film, Small Change, where the boy falls out the window yet survives. In 2014, she was named one of Filmmaker magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film".

In 2016, Bravo released the short film, Hard World for Small Things, a live-action virtual reality film that was a "day in the life" depiction of South Central. The project was grant funded by Eve Cohen and James Kaelan of Seed and Spark. The film was inspired by the death of a cousin, visiting from Panama, who in the summer of 1999 was asphyxiated by the police in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn is a case of mistaken identity. It was shot using GoPro cameras for the virtual reality company Wevr, and was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, and the AFI Festival Los Angeles. The title of the film was inspired by a line of dialog in the 1955 film noir film, The Night of the Hunter, The film stars Gelman, Michael Cera, and Judy Greer, and includes performances by Nia Long, Fred Melamed, Shiri Appleby, Rhea Perlman, David Paymer, Gillian Jacobs, Megan Mullally, Martin Starr, Jeff Garlin, and Marla Gibbs. After a somewhat turbulent pre-production process, the film was picked up by Killer Films and Burn Later Productions and premiered at Sundance in 2017.

In addition to creating her own work, Bravo directed season 1 episode 9, "Juneteenth", of the FX television show Atlanta, which stars and was created by Donald Glover, as well as season 3 episode 5, "Bertie's Birthday", of the Netflix television show Love, which was created by and stars Paul Rust.

Bravo's latest film, Zola, was directed and co-written by Bravo, along with playwright Jeremy O. Harris. The film is based on a 148-tweet thread by Detroit waitress Aziah "Zola" Wells about a trip she took to Florida with a sex worker named Jessica. Zola had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Award.

In 2022, Bravo was one of nine directors commissioned to design a series of rooms at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the exhibition In America: An Anthology of Fashion.

In March 2025 she directed the acclaimed "Worms" episode of The Bear.

In April 2026, it was announced that Bravo will direct Good Thing, a biographical film about Martha Stewart.

Personal life Bravo speaks Spanish fluently and is Afro Latina.

In December 2015, Bravo married her long-time boyfriend, actor Brett Gelman. Gelman and Bravo met in New York City while working on a New York Lotto commercial. In 2016, they resided in Los Angeles.

Awards 2014: Sundance Film Festival, Short Film Grand Jury Prize (nominated) – Gregory Go Boom 2014: Sundance Film Festival, Short Film Jury Award: US Fiction – Gregory Go Boom 2026: Bravo won a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation for best Director – Comedy for "Worms."

Organizations Year Category Work Result Ref. Directors Guild of America Awards 2026 Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series The Bear

Filmography Film Year Title Director Writer Producer Editor Notes 2011 Eat Short 2016 Atlanta Episode: "Juneteenth" 2018 Divorce Episode: "Ohio" 2018 Love Episode: "Bertie's Birthday" 2018 Here and Now Episode: "Yes" 2018 Dear White People Episode: "Volume 2: Chapter IX" 2018 Forever 2 episodes 2020 Mrs. America Episode: "Houston" 2020 Little America Episode: "The Cowboy" 2021 In Treatment 4 episodes 2021 Them Episode: "Covenant I." 2022 Kindred Directed episode: "Dana" 2023 Poker Face Episode: "The Hook" 2024 The Listeners Directed 4 episodes 2025 The Bear Episode: "Worms" 2025 Too Much Episode: "One Wedding and a Sex Pest"

Acting roles